This is not a continuation-in-part of a previous application, and not a co-pending.
None of the work on this invention was performed under any Federally-Sponsored or State-Sponsored research and development. Gabriel used his own resources on every phase of his project.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of the avoidance of bodily injury for passengers in a vehicle, should a collision occur. Specifically it is on improving the vehicle""s air-bag protection system. Presently, when the air bag suddenly inflates, its plastic cover plate flies out disintegrating and its pieces could injure a motorist or his passenger. With the improvement to the air-bag, the motorist is protected from injury by a pillow added-on and attached to the cover plate. The pillow""s enclosure is rip-resistant, elastic or expandable, water and fire resistant, as well as replaceable, when worn and needing repairs. Similar pillows may be mounted at other injury vulnerable locations of the vehicle. No matter where they may be mounted, the pillows are removably-attached to a surface, so they may be replaced. The top surfaces of the bags could be decorated colorfully with pleasing patterns, including flowers.
2. Description of Prior Art
The inventor is only aware of patents pending and issued under his name that relates to his present invention. The pending patents are Ser. No. 09/722236, dated Nov. 27, 2000 and Ser. No. 09/752,920, dated Jan. 2, 2001, entitled, xe2x80x9cBodily-Injury Protective Clothing and Accessories for Outdoors and In A Vehiclexe2x80x9d. He does not have any issued patents on this subject matter. Regarding protective clothing for forceful impact, one could refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,558 dated Dec. 26, 1995, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,065, dated May 16, 1978.
The auto air bag has been known to cause injury to the motorist""s head when suddenly inflating, sometimes causing one""s nose to break.
A simple technique has been devised to avoid bodily injury to a motorist or to his passenger when an air bag inflates. The technique is to attach a pillow to the top of the steering wheel or to the top of any air bag plastic cover in the vehicle. Thus, when the plastic cover flies off to allow the air bag to inflate, the pillow strikes the head first, instead of the plastic. Thus, the motorist is spared injury. The pillow may be attached to the top of the concealed auto air bag, by either velcro strips, by snap-on fasteners or by any other convenient means, so it can be replaced, when worn or soiled. The pillow""s cover would be water and puncture resistant, and could be decorative, so as to be pleasing to the eye and match the coloring and decorations inside the vehicle. The plastic cover breaks into two equal pieces when the air bag inflates. Hence, in the final design, the protective pillow has been divided into two pillows, one pillow to go with half of the plastic cover and the other pillow with the other half, when the air bag suddenly inflates.